Stage: Made in Brighton

We talked to Howard Panter about Ambassador Theatre Group’s new Theatre Royal Brighton Productions

Why did you choose Brighton to create Theatre Royal Brighton Productions (TRBP), a new production wing for your already large and successful company?
Three main reasons: Brighton is a truly creative city. The Theatre itself is one of the very best theatres for audiences and actors alike. With productions of the highest quality, Brighton has always attracted audiences from a wide catchment.

You initially plan to produce three plays from Brighton’s Theatre Royal, will that increase with time?
Three plays a year is our current plan, but you never know, it depends on how our success continues to grow.

You plan to stage classic drama alongside less well known works. How will you decide which plays you tackle?
Christopher Luscombe, Maria Aitken and Philip Franks suggest projects, we discuss them and hopefully together come up with plays that will excite and entertain our audiences.

You have put together an illustrious group; Christopher Luscombe, Maria Aitken and Philip Franks, to head up the new company. How did you choose them?
I approached Christopher first and together we thought of Maria and Philip. And thank goodness they said yes.

What special elements does Brighton add to the mix?
We will be doing workshops with Brighton based actors to explore a wide range of plays. We will also have lots of Q&As with our casts and hope to have rehearsed readings of plays for audiences and us.

Brighton has a strong creative community and a large number of professional actors. Will you be able to involve them in the new company?
Yes. Christopher has already started with a series of meetings and correspondence with the great creative community in Brighton. We hope this will lead to greater involvement from those in and around Brighton.

Brighton was once the number one pre-West End venue, would you like that status to return?
Yes, and I believe over the next year you will see several exciting new ventures start in Brighton, which I believe will become a growing trend. And audiences from across the South will hopefully flock, too.

Is it difficult to find plays that will work well across all of your theatres on a national tour?
It can be, but essentially good drama, quality and great entertainment hopefully work in all the great cities in the UK.

As a group ATG owns some of the most beautiful theatres in the UK, is Theatre Royal Brighton the jewel in your crown?
It’s certainly right up there. Actors love it and so do I.

As CEO and Artistic Director do you suffer personal conflict when trying to balance artistic endeavour with financial constraints, or do you believe that budgetary constraints can lead to sharper creative decisions?
It’s certainly complex, but in the end if we create wonderful nights out for the audience, that tends to do the trick.

Is TRBP a one off project or can other regional theatres in your company look forward to developing new creative work?
We are working in four other cities to develop new musicals. But Brighton is the only regional city where we are focused on new, exciting drama productions.

The first production from TRBP was a neglected Pinero comedy, Dandy Dick, that received great reviews, both for the cast and for the quality of the production. You must have been pleased?
Delighted, thank you. I think it’s fair to say the audience experienced a quality of production that was as high as anywhere in the Country.

The next is Blue/Orange, a modern play that was highly acclaimed when it was first staged. Does this choice reflect your intended balance of programming?
Yes, absolutely. The best drama is what Chris is after. Be it contemporary or a forgotten classic.

In Dandy Dick you had Patricia Hodge and Nicholas Le Provost, in Blue/Orange it’s Robert Bathurst with two bright new talents. Has it been easy casting for the new company?
Robert loved Blue/Orange. So that was a great start. The other two great actors were also quickly drawn to this terrific psychological thriller.

With three major creative talents steering the company under you there must be a lot of ideas floating around. How do you decided which ones to do?
Yes, thankfully there are many good ideas. In the end Christopher leads, but it’s hopefully with everyone’s consent.

And with so many ideas, can you reveal any future projects that you personally would like to see in production?
Please watch this space. Lots of excitement hopefully to come.

So in year one, three plays. Year two… year three… ?
Too soon to confirm, but there are lots of great projects under discussion.